GE

IMPERIAL, Pa. (AP) – General Electric plans to build a $32 million facility near Pittsburgh InternationalAirport to develop three-dimensional printing and other high-tech manufacturing processes.

The company plans to employ 50 high-tech engineers at the Findlay Township facility, which will break ground in March and should be completed in September.
Three-dimensional, or 3D, printing refers to a process in which digital images are fed into a machine which can “print” – or make – products that correspond to the image out of plastic, metals or other materials.

General Electric is already using the process to create fuel nozzles for new jet engine models it is producing.
GE chose the location because Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State University all have research programs devoted to 3D printing and other advanced manufacturing technologies.

GE is Transforming Manufacturing, One Layer at a Time

GE Researchers have been developing new technology in additive manufacturing for over 20 years. Additive manufacturing is the next chapter in the industrial revolution.

GE is committed to connecting with other innovators and growing a global additive ecosystem to accelerate the growth of this emerging industry.

GE Additive Manufacturing

How GE Builds
GE has a full-scale additive manufacturing facility in Cincinnati, Ohio, focused on the development and scale up of new alloys, processes and parts for additive use. GE has a global team of 600 engineers at 21 sites driving additive and other advanced manufacturing technologies.

What GE Builds
GE is focused on the development of parts and components in additive across its business portfolio. First applications will be a fuel nozzle for GE’s newest jet engine, the CFM Leap. In Healthcare, GE researchers have developed a way to print ultrasound transducers that will dramatically reduce time and manufacturing costs versus manufacturing techniques used today.

Where GE Is Going
To ignite the next industrial revolution, an ecosystem that spans the additive manufacturing supply chain will be required to make it happen. Together we have an opportunity to create thousands of new businesses that create thousands of manufacturing jobs in additive manufacturing. Are you in?

Breakthrough Technology – Additive Manufacturing

Additive Manufacturing
Additive manufacturing, the industrial version of 3-D printing, is already used to make some niche items, such as medical implants, and to produce plastic prototypes for engineers and designers. But the decision to mass-produce a critical metal-alloy part to be used in thousands of jet engines is a significant milestone for the technology. And while 3-D printing for consumers and small entrepreneurs has received a great deal of publicity, it is in manufacturing where the technology could have its most significant commercial impact (see “The Difference Between Makers and Manufacturers,” January/February 2013).

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